Samsung Galaxy S vs. HTC Wildfire – Review

by Jerry D on July 14, 2010

Samsung’s biggest and best cell phone lines up against a mini version of the HTC Desire. Surely this is a one-sided contest?

Connectivity:

The Samsung Galaxy S is a 3G/HSDPA (7.2Mbps) phone with added 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP. The Wildfire, meanwhile, features 3G/HSDPA (7.2 Mbps), 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP. The Galaxy’s enhanced Wi-Fi support just edges it here. (1-0)

Size & Weight:

How chunky are these two handsets? Well, the Galaxy S is slightly skinnier than the Wildfire with a chassis that’s only 9.9mm thick. The Galaxy S is wider, measuring 64.2mm to the Wildfire’s 60.4mm. As for weightiness, the Galaxy S is heavier than the Wildfire, tipping the scales at 119g, compared to the Wildfire’s 118g. Despite the big differences in the specifications, the two are closely matched here. (1-1)

Camera:

First up, the Galaxy S’s 5.0 Megapixel camera features autofocus, geo-tagging, touch to focus functionality, face and smile detection and HD video recording. It also features a second, front-facing camera. The HTC Wildfire matches its opponent with a 5.0 Megapixel camera of its own, as well as autofocus, LED flash, smile detection, geo-tagging and video recording. (2-1)

Screen/keyboard:

Headlining the Samsung Galaxy S is a big 4.0-inch, touch-sensitive, Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. The 3.2-inch touch-sensitive LCD screen on the Wildfire is smaller and it boasts a far poorer screen resolution – 240 by 320 pixels. (3-1)

Performance:

As for the processor and user interface, The Galaxy S’s processor is a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 chip, while the Wildfire uses a Qualcomm MSM 7225, rated at 528MHz. Samsung’s phone uses Android 2.1 (Eclair), while HTC also uses Android, enhanced with its own Sense UI. (4-1)

Downloadable apps

Storage:

The Galaxy S wins the internal storage battle with 16GB, compared to 384MB on the Wildfire. Plug a bigger memory card into the Galaxy S’s microSD expansion slot and the maximum capacity balloons to 48GB. The inclusion of a microSD expansion slot on the Wildfire bumps up the capacity to a more respectable 32GB. (5-1)

Battery life:

Fully powered-up, the Galaxy S weighs in with 6.5 hours of talktime; the Wildfire in comparison boasts 8.0 hours of talktime. In terms of standby times, Samsung’s phone can last 576 hours, while HTC’s model boasts 690 hours. A gold star for the Wildfire in this round. (5-2)

Extras:

The Galaxy S also includes a stereo FM radio (with RDS), GPS/A-GPS and a digital compass. The Wildfire is no slouch here either and matches the Galaxy with its own FM radio, GPS/A-GPS sat-nav and a digital compass. (5-2)

The Samsung Galaxy S wins!

As expected, the Galaxy S emerges as the winner of this fight (5-2). It has the most memory, a far better display and the bigger of the two screens. It’s also the thinnest of the two phones, despite its overall size. Of course, the HTC Wildfire is a more compact handset and has more in common with other ‘mini’ models like the X10 Mini and N97 Mini. But if you want a powerful Android phone, the Galaxy surely fits the bill.

Do you agree with the outcome of this fight? Leave us a comment below now…